Mobile communication devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers, are capable of running applications (e.g., educational, gaming, financial, and utility applications) that are useful in a variety of contexts. These mobile communication devices are becoming increasingly more and more complex in terms of the hardware that resides on the mobile communication devices and the operating systems and software applications that are employed to interoperate with the hardware. As a consequence, there are an increasing number of potential faults or bugs that may occur in these complicated communication devices.
To detect and address bugs before new releases are sent out the general public, mobile communication devices are provided to what are known as “friendly user test users (FUTs)” that utilize mobile communication devices for a period of time that may exceed six weeks. Once this test period is over, data logs from the test devices are collected and analyzed to help identify and repair any issues in software and/or hardware. This process, however, is very expensive because of the time and money that is required to set up the test devices, find knowledgeable and reliable users, collect the logs, and then post-process the logs to analyze user actions.
Simultaneously with the development of more complicated mobile devices, there is increasing pressure upon hardware developers, software developers, and mobile device integrators to more quickly release improved and updated versions of their products or services. As a consequence, the typical expensive approach to field-testing mobile communication devices is, at best, less than desirable and will likely become more and more unsatisfactory in the future as mobile communication devices become more complicated and product development cycles become shorter.